MultiCharts .NET Closed Beta Begins Today

We are pleased to announce that closed beta testing commenced today for our new platform – MultiCharts .NET.

A big thank you is owed to all beta testers that have stepped forward to help us make MC .NET as good as it can be; we’ve sent out the installers and instructions to the selected group of beta test applicants. Thank you all for your help!

Main difference in MultiCharts .NET from regular MultiCharts is the ability to develop in .NET languages, such as C# and others. We’ve integrated tightly with Visual Studio, so you can use professional IDEs to develop your scripts.

This short video gives a brief overview tips and tricks to script creation in MC .NET.

Here are a few features in MultiCharts .NET (which are unavailable in regular MultiCharts):

Access all data from Scripts, for instruments that are not even charted.

Create custom toolbars.

Draw objects using GDI.

Access to all information in Order and Position Tracker from scripts.

We’ll continue adding more info and posting interesting tidbits about MultiCharts .NET in the coming weeks. We expect for the beta to last about a month, with MultiCharts .NET becoming available publicly toward the end of July 2012.

44 thoughts on “MultiCharts .NET Closed Beta Begins Today”

Would it be possible with MC .NET to create an indicator that can be applied to a chart and reference ticks historically? For example, a VWAP indicator in PowerLanguage can only be plotted on real-time or playback data but not on historical bars.

Yes, but that would not be true tick-by-tick calculation but only on bar close.

To put it in different words, Henry said on the forum “On historical data an indicator is calculated on bar close (Barstatus=2) values only.
That is not possible to perform intrabar indicator calculation on historical data.”.

Is that behaviour still the case in MC .NET, or can we also perform easier intrabar indicator calculation? Perhaps with point 1 from the blog post above? 🙂

1) Has MC.NET more advanced options for backtesting? For example, when using a walk-forward analysis, is it possible to decide which parameter set needs to be selected instead of selecting the (possible) outlier result (which is now the default behaviour in MC)?

In other words, say the method “WFO_ChooseParameterSet” is used in MC .NET to choose the best parameters in a walk-forward analysis. Would it be possible to overload this method so that we can use our own logic?

2) Am I correct in stating that the PowerLanguage reserved word ‘FileAppend’ opens and closes an IO stream every time it’s called?

If that’s correct, we can expect a lot quicker writing to file with MC .NET right? (Since we can then open the StreamWriter in the Create() method and close it in the Destroy() method).

No, that behavior is a calculation method, essentially you want a “Bar Magnifier” for indicators. It’s not available in MC regular, nor will it be any different in MC .NET. It’s a feature request, currently all indicators calculate only on Bar Close historically. You could have a 1 tick chart as data2, hide it, and plot a VWAP based on data2 displayed on your chart – but I’m not sure that will achieve what you want it to.

Hello Stan,
I’m considering purchasing Multicharts, if I do purchase a lifetime license will I be able to access MultiCharts.net as well? I have some indicators written in easylanguage but am learning C# currently so this .net version is perfect for me.

The two products will be licenses separately, so if you buy a license of MultiCharts, you’ll have access to MultiCharts. If you buy a license for MultiCharts .NET, then you’ll have access to MultiCharts .NET. If it’s the second program you want, you should wait until it becomes available for sale.

We may also consider offering a package of both programs with some sort of special offer down the road.

I realize that you have a 30 Day trial option for your software. But, a competitor allows you to use a full version for free to develop software until you can create a strategy and then you can purchase the platform. Why don’t you have the same thing. It also seems that a competitor has more stuff offered with there platform. They had .NET years ago and you are just getting it. And they offer more options for brokers and feeds than you do. Why do you charge more and have not have a free use option and charge more?

Interesting questions. We don’t offer the same thing mainly because we have different approaches. We believe it’s better to have a free 30-day fully-enabled trial, so that you know exactly what you are getting, as opposed to giving away a reduced version for free. MultiCharts always was and will remain an EasyLanguage centered program, which is a lot easier for traders that are not programming-oriented. In terms of charging, license options are comparable – our lifetime license with connection to multiple brokers is $1497 USD.

A competitor gives you access to a FULLY ENABLED version until you have mastered the system. I don’t mind the lifetime license fee. I would actually buy the professional version. But, I do mind buying something before I fully learn how to use it. A competitor’s full version lets you learn how to program with there system first and then you can use to trade. The 30 day trial doesn’t give you that option. So, I ask you the same question. Why don’t you have the same opportunity to let people use your system and learn the language? If you were just a regular trading platform your trial would be ok. But, I am interested in it for more than the platform.

Fair question. We believe in a different approach, that’s all. Many of our customers already know the language. Same goes for .NET version – people coming to that are likely to know the language already.

We are always thinking about different models, and how to approach it – so it’s not like we haven’t considered what you are suggesting. We’ll continue evaluating and consider switching if there’s enough demand.

You mentioned a platform to learn, but didn’t mention what. Correct, that version lets you learn MultiCharts the platform, but it doesn’t have PowerLanguage. You can always purchase the 3-month license to get more familiar with the language, or use the 30 day free trial.

The competitor does not give you the fully enabled version. Don’t mislead people please. If it were fully enabled you would never pay for it. It just gives you a simulator that is good but far from reality. You can’t check how your system or manual trading will work with a REAL broker connection (it can be buggy, not mature or broken). So actually you can’t make any objective judgment at all based on the SIM enabled version. MultiCharts at least gives you opportunity to see how your system will work in reality. Yes it is 30 days, but it was more than enough for me. If you want to use the product and pay nothing it is another story, but I don’t believe it is right.

MC .NET does not convert scripts from language to language. Regular MultiCharts lets you program in POwerLanguage, and MC .NET lets you program in C# or VB. That’s the only difference, but they are separate programs. As for the second question, at this point our beta testing is underway and we are not accepting new members. Public launch is planned for end of July, so please look out for updates.

Agreed. Why pay for something that is already available for less money. I program in C++, VB and C#. I can backtest in other program like Competitor which allow you to develop for free. If this converted Powerlanguage (Easylanguage) code to nonproprietary languages it would be a real game changer.

If this thing had a converter I would be more likely to buy the Professional version that links up to Bloomberg to get data and execute. Powerlanguage conversion would make this platform invaluable to me.

Where did the critical comment about MC .NET not supporting VB .NET go?

It was not my comment and admittedly good manners & grammar weren’t used, but if it was removed deliberately (and not by some automatic anti-spam tool) it begs the question which other critical notes are kept from potential MC .NET customers.

As per closed beta rules, users are not allowed to share details with the public. We’ll continue to monitor comments and forum to make sure it’s followed.

If you’ve been following our company for a while, you know that we don’t hold back information and censorship is not our choice. That comment was deleted intentionally because it was poorly written and uninformed. Instead I’ll be making a post letting ppl know that VB is now available. That should clear up any confusion.